At Westlake Boys we’ve learned that when the Covid curveball hits we need to be ready to adjust quickly and switch to Plan B.

Fortunately, with the aid of the internet we were able to stay in touch and continue lessons from the confines of our homes, and in true Westlake spirit we saw our staff and students get creative and produce fun, inspirational and motivational material on school media channels for everyone to enjoy. From short lively student messages to help bolster morale, to online fitness sessions, inspirational guest speakers and school news posts, we enjoyed plenty of content that reminded our community they were not alone as we moved through lockdown together.

For a lucky few, online interaction this lockdown included a limited number of extracurricular activities.  When cycling’s Northern Tour was cancelled, Cycling New Zealand’s Plan B enabled Westlake Boys to compete astride smart trainers in a series of Individual time trials online with other schools using the Zwift platform, starting with the impressive Champs Elysee course in Paris. This was thoroughly enjoyed by the cyclists involved.

Similarly, Westlake Boys’ Premier Advanced Debating Teams 1 and 3 were able to compete in the quarterfinals via Zoom, with Team 3 advancing to the semi-finals. There was also a live-streamed awards ceremony run by Auckland Schools Debating for the Top 10 speakers of this year’s debating championship. Westlake Boys Team 1 in the Premier Junior category managed to have all three team members receive awards with Cooper Beale being placed second, Cruz Erdmann eighth, and Jake Fuyala ninth.  In the Premier Advanced competition, Hunter Haynes was placed ninth overall and received the award for Most Promising Speaker. These are outstanding results that bode very well for the future of debating at Westlake Boys.

Quiz Night tests the best

The Westlake Boys Academic Council was fortunate to host the 2021 Quiz Night prior to lockdown and delivered a fun evening of head-scratching trivia, fun facts, and challenges to test even the keenest minds. Over 250 eager quizzers gathered in the auditorium and formed teams to answer questions across ten topics including Pop Culture, Face Mash, and Obama. Themed tables added vibrancy and energy to the evening’s merriment as teams vied good-naturedly for an honourable finish. During the evening contestants were invited to apply their hands-on skills in activities such as the paper plane challenge, Pi recital challenge, spicy noodle challenge and push up challenge which proved thoroughly entertaining to watch. The event raised just over $2,400 and the funds will be used to support academic programmes across the school including peer tutoring sessions, study breakfasts, and holiday catch-up classes as well as sponsoring academic pursuits for students in need. 

Speaker Series enlightens in lockdown

As part of maintaining connection, motivation and inspiration for our students, parents and staff during the lengthy lockdown, Westlake Boys initiated a guest Speaker Series which invited speakers to present online to our community each week. We acknowledge that wellbeing plays an important role in the overall success of our students and school, and this principle underpinned the content across the Speaker Series and proved to be a great way to engage and support our community while being physically distanced from one another.

Part of our Speaker Series included several Westlakers who spoke honestly and openly to our current students. Izzy Whitley talked about overcoming personal adversity and becoming a successful business owner. Olympian Michael Brake spoke about his Olympic experience and the preparation, mindset and attitude that it takes to get to the very top. Tai Webster shared his experiences as a professional basketballer who played in New Zealand and overseas, as well as for his country. Max Crean, who is pursuing an acting career, spoke about how he got into acting, what it is like to audition, the importance of preparation and memory skills, and shared tips on how to perform well when it matters most. The series concluded with Westlaker AJ Hackett encouraging students to “embrace risk as long as you also learn how to manage it, to follow your dreams and once you decide on something to give it 110% every day, and not to be afraid of hurdles – the beautiful thing about problems is that they create wonderful solutions”. It was fantastic for our current students to hear from a wide variety of successful Westlakers who generously shared their insights into the commitment, resilience, and hard work involved to achieve success.

For our staff and parent community we delivered a series of world class speakers live-streamed on Wednesday evenings. These speakers included Dr Tony Fernando who spoke about excelling and how to enjoy lockdown with teenagers, Dr Ceri Evans on thriving in pressurised situations, Dr Richard Young on his research around removing unnecessary complexity in order to perform at your best every day, and Dr Jess Shatkin on themes from his book ‘Born To Be Wild – Why Teens Take Risks and How We Can Help Keep Them Safe’. The messages from all these speakers were insightful and inspiring and are now available for everyone to watch on the Westlake Boys YouTube channel.